Lord Dunsany. The Book of Wonder. 1912.
For the Easter weekend, we wanted a special celebration of Irish Science Fiction and Fantasy writing for IFF. Lord Dunsany (or rather Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany) is one of the most well-known authors from our shores, and much of his writing is available online. The Book of Wonder is a short story collection that influenced J.R.R.Tolkien, H.P. Lovecraft and Ursula Le Guin. The collection contains fourteen short stories, all of which can be accessed below, and the image we’ve used is one of Sidney Sime’s illustrations from the book itself. Sime collaborated on several of Dunsany’s works, and although not Irish himself, his art is so lovely that we’ve included some extra links to his work below (since they are not included in the link to the book itself). Curl up and enjoy this lovely collection over the weekend, try not to eat too much chocolate, and don’t forget to keep an eye out for the Easter Bunny. Even if you aren’t at Eastercon or Norwescon with us, have a great weekend!
An Illustrated History of Sidney Sime
